Blameless conscience

Acts 24:16 (NLV)

In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.

Paul was determined to return to Jerusalem knowing full well that he was going to be greatly persecuted there (e.g. Acts 21:13).  After being arrested, beaten, and imprisoned, Paul was given permission to defend himself to the people in Acts 22.  In Acts 23 Paul defended himself before the Sanhedrin, the supreme council or court in Israel.  The high priest was a cruel man named Ananias.  You can read in Acts 23:1-3 that after Paul said that he has lived his life “with a perfectly good conscience before God….” that Ananias commanded those near Paul to punch him in the mouth!  Paul was sent from Jerusalem to Caesarea because it was learned of a conspiracy to kill him (Acts 23:12-14) had he remained in Jerusalem.  At Caesarea Paul was delivered to the governor, Felix.  It was in the governor’s presence that the high priest Ananias continued his accusations (through his attorney, Tertullus) that you read starting in Acts 24. Paul then began his defense starting in Acts 24:10. He again testifies about his clear/blameless conscience.  What is a clear and blameless conscience and how can you make the same claim as Paul did?

Conscience is an important biblical word as it is used 32 times in the New Testament.  The Greek word used for conscience means “the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter”.  God created the conscience within us, giving us the ability to sense right from wrong, moral from immoral.  Some people believe that the conscience is the inner voice of God.  The problem is that you can easily contaminate our conscience by rationalizing or even ignoring your sin(s) to the point that your conscience either cannot or will not differentiate right from wrong.  The conscience is like any kind of signal or alarm in that if you ignore it, it will sooner or later fade out or die or stop and then you have nothing that will alert you to the damage or danger you are about to experience.  A guilty conscience is a good thing in the sense that your sense of right and wrong is still active.  It’s when you no longer feel guilty about a wrongdoing that indicates that the conscience is inactive.  Those who commit the worst of crimes or commit a wrong (e.g. lying, cheating) habitually have inactive consciences.  

Ron Thomas (http://www.gospelweb.net/ronsermons4/TheVoiceOfOurConscience.htm) wrote that there are seven biblical words that characterize the condition of your conscience:

1.  Good (I Tim 1:5)—healthy and sensitive to the Word of God and His Spirit.

2.  Blameless (Acts 24:16)—without guilt

3.  Pure or clear (I Tim 1:3)—no regrets

4.  Weak (II Cor 8:12)—easily influenced

5.  Defiled (Titus 1:15)—corrupted, dulled, polluted.  What happens when you tolerate sin in your life and do not acknowledge that it is sin.

6.  Evil (Heb 10:22)—so defiled and corrupt that you cannot differentiate right from wrong.

7.  Seared (I Tim 4:2)—sin no longer affects you, you have no conscience remaining

Conscience has been called many things---inner voice of God, eye of the soul (Oswald Chambers), moral compass, an inner sense of right and wrong, and so forth.  Your view of God, and whether you desire to follow the standards of His Word or your own human standards will determine the condition of your conscience.  Yes, you can defile or sear your conscience through repeated sin, but you can also cleanse your conscience through sincere confession and repentance.

Paul declared before his accusers that he did his best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before man.  Writing that he did his best conveys the truth that Paul was not perfect just like any other human being.  He might have said or done things that pricked his conscience, but he likely did not do this often as he was diligent in his commitment to Christ.  He also strived to have a blameless conscience before both God and other people.  So, again, he worked hard at behaving in a way that he could make a claim like this.  It begs the question, “can you say or write the same thing about your conscience as Paul”?  When you review the biblical conditions of the conscience where does yours fit?  What can you do to work toward achieving a good, blameless, and clear conscience?  That is your biblical challenge today.